On average, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. The average charter school ends up with a total funding shortfall of nearly half a million dollars.
Source: Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier
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Note: Please be aware that online publishers often change URLs or no longer provide access to articles after 7 days. If any of the below links no longer work, access the publishing newspaper and search the archives for the keywords in the subject matter. Good luck.
New Report from KIPP Shows Significant Student Achievement Gains
This week, KIPP, the national network of public charter schools in 17 states and Washington, D.C., released its new annual report card. Its test score results continue to be impressive. The report details the achievement records of the 49 KIPP schools that have significant test results, with almost all showing strong student achievement gains. For the first time, the report summarizes the results for the 1,000 students who have completed all four years at 25 KIPP middle schools. On average, students jumped from the 40th to the 82nd percentile in math and from the 32nd to the 60th percentile in reading. By this summer, KIPP will have an estimated 16,000 students, about 60 percent African American and 35 percent Hispanic, and 81 percent will be from families who qualify for federal lunch subsidies. The report reveals that the organization has set a goal of expanding KIPP's network to 100 schools serving 24,000 students by the year 2011. As its middle schools continue to perform well, the organization is shifting its focus to building elementary schools.
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (04/21/2008)
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Oregon Public Charter School Movement Expanding Despite High Closure Rate
There are approximately 80 public charter schools in Oregon, with nine more expected to open this fall. Closure rates are higher than the national average (20 percent versus 11 percent), according to a study by the Oregon Department of Education. The public charter school sustainability report highlighted financial obligations, such as staffing, building leases and utilities as well as low enrollment as the main factors behind school closures. Despite the higher than average closure rate, state public charter school leaders are excited about the movement's growth. "Charter schools are the will and the drive and not taking no for an answer," said Jo Ann Lindenthal, executive director of the Multisensory Learning Academy in Gresham, which opened in 2001. She cites strong management, frugal spending and parent/community support as critical to the survival for of the state's oldest public charter schools.
Source: The Oregonian, (04/20/2008)
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Illinois Lawmakers Push for More Public Charter Schools
Current Illinois law says up to 60 public charter schools may exist in the state (30 in Chicago; 15 in the city's suburbs; and 15 in the rest of the state). Chicago has maxed out its capacity, with some schools having multiple campuses. There are two public charters in the suburbs and five elsewhere in the state. The Senate has approved, and the House is now considering, two competing plans for school expansion. Senate Bill 2402 would increase the total number of public charters permitted in Illinois from 60 to 100 and abolish geographic restrictions. Senate Bill 1956, would not raise the cap, but would move five of the unused slots from the suburbs and downstate into Chicago.
Source: Rockford Register Star, (04/19/2008)
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L.A. Teachers Union Leadership Challenges District Sharing Space with Public Charter Schools
The L.A. teachers union leadership is angry that the district has offered space to more than three dozen public charter schools as part of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging the LAUSD's lagging efforts to share its facilities under Proposition 39. "This has to do with a bad law, and instead of the district fighting this they chose to make a settlement that will impact the educational programs at the host schools by taking away precious space," said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. In addition to rallying parents, teachers and community-based organizations, union leaders to lobby legislators about changing the public charter law. Caprice Young, leader of the state's Public Charter Schools Association, said the union leaders' campaign is motivated by fear and not concern for students' welfare. "Duffy is just frightened that the teachers on those campuses are going to realize that they don't have to be confined to the rule-bound system that they're currently working under," she said.
Source: Los Angeles Daily News, (04/18/2008)
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Denver Teachers Union Proposes Public Charter School
Last week, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association outlined to the Denver Public Schools system its proposal for the state's only union-run public charter school. The preschool through eighth-grade program would focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "A group of teachers came together and we have been meeting about what our ideal school would be like, said DCTA President Kim Ursetta. "We'd be on the cutting edge of reform and best practices from across the country and around the world, she added. Union-led public charter schools already have been formed in New York, Florida and California. "The more different types of choices the better," said Alan Gottlieb, vice president for policy and business engagement at the Public Education & Business Coalition. "If they want to try to run a choice school on their own terms and prove that it works along the lines of (Denver School of Science & Technology), great."
Source: Denver Post, (04/18/2008)
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New Report on New Orleans' Public Schools Released
Fifty-seven percent of public school students in New Orleans now attend public charter schools, more than any other urban school district in the country. A new report examining all public schools in the city hails the progress made since Hurricane Katrina, but finds that across the system, especially in the Recovery School District (RSD)-run and RSD public charter schools, the majority of students are well below grade level. "Significant tension" exists between public charter schools and their districts, public charter schools and traditional schools and the two school districts over resources, student recruitment and other issues, according to the report. The report maintains that "strong new leadership has emerged" through state Superintendent Paul Pastorek and Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas. It also mentions that the school board received its first clean audit last year.
Source: The Times-Picayune, (04/17/2008)
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Nearly One in Three Public School Students in D.C. Enrolled in Public Charter Schools
According to the State Education Office, Washington, D.C.'s 55 public charter schools this year enroll 21,866 students, an 11 percent increase from last year. The district school system, meanwhile, lost 3,190 students. Public charter schools now enroll 31 percent of the students attending district public schools. Six new schools are scheduled to open this fall, and a petition is pending with the D.C. Public Charter School Board to open seven former Catholic schools as the Center City public charter schools. The projected first-year enrollment for all of these schools together is approximately 1600.
Source: FOCUS DC, (04/15/2008)
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National Public Charter Schools Week to Be Held May 5-9
National Public Charter Schools Week will be celebrated May 5-9, 2008. A primary purpose of this annual event is to connect public charter school students, parents, teachers, and leaders to policymakers, so they can experience the schools and the enthusiasm of the people supporting them. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools encourages charter schools to participate in a dynamic video campaign called "See Us Growing Excellence" - go here for more information.
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, (03/15/2008)
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National Charter Schools Conference (New Orleans, June 22-25)
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will host the 2008 National Charter Schools Conference from June 22-25 in New Orleans, LA. "Still We Rise: Achieving Academic Excellence at Scale" is the conference theme, reflecting the growth of quality public charter schools across America. The theme has special resonance in New Orleans, which boasts the nation's largest percentage of public charter school enrollment. Register for the conference or apply to sponsor/exhibit at http://www.nationalcharterconference.org. The conference is the largest gathering of charter school operators and proponents in the nation. Geoffrey Canada, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Harlem Children's Zone, will offer the keynote speech. Attendees will learn and share best practices, discuss national and state policy issues, have the opportunity to volunteer at local charter schools, and enjoy special events featuring New Orleans traditions, food and music! Questions? Call 206-463-3344 or e-mail nationalconference@publiccharters.org.
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, (03/01/2008)
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